Three of Alabama's top chefs were among the semifinalists for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for 2011 announced this morning in New York City.

Chef Frank Stitt of Birmingham, Al., was nominated as the Outstanding Chef in the nation and his restaurant -- Highlands Bar and Grill -- was nominated in the Outstanding Restaurant category.

Chef Wesley True, owner/chef at True Restaurant in Mobile, Al., was nominated for the Best Chef in the South, along with Chris Dupont of Cafe Dupont in Birmingham, Al.

Nick Pihakis, owner of Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q in Birmingham, Al., was nominated in the category for the Outstanding Restaurateur in the nation.

The finalists will be announced on March 21 and the ceremony honoring the culinary elite will be May 9 at Lincoln Center in New York City.

The James Beard Foundation Awards program was established in 1990. It recognizes culinary professionals for excellence.

Chef True is 1996 graduate of St. Paul's High School in Moible. He attended the University of Mississippi before he decided his future was in the kitchen and enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. After graduation he worked in several New York kitchens, including a stint as sous chef to Bobby Flay at his Mesa Grille.

He returned to his hometown in 2007 to open his namesake restaurant that features high-end entrees served in a small, bistro atmosphere. True described his menu as "New French with a Southern twist."

Chef Stitt is a native of Cullman, Ala., and much of the offerings at Highlands Bar Grille are reflective of his deep Southern roots. He has worked with such culinary notables as Jeremiah Tower, Stephen Spurrier and Simca Beck. In 2001 Stitt received the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast in and he was nominated in 2008 for Outstanding Chef.